Master Plan/Just Do It/Master Cylinders and Primer Prep

Yesterday I wrestled a bit with the project management gods coming to the conclusion that the only way I am going to get the '59 reassembled is to make a commitment to myself t0 get out into the garage on a regular basis and do some work on the car-even if it is just small tasks that take a few minutes. Every step accomplished gets me closer to buttoning it up and driving . I need to get this car back together for a number of different reasons.....Part of this conclusion stems from my interest at looking at Kijjiji ads for classic cars...there are so many abandoned projects represented and I just don't want the Triumph to end up in the ranks of the unfinished...so it has to be heads down with a commitment to "just do it".... I have set a target date of July 1st for completed assembly with an intention of attending a British Car meet in mid July as my goals. I believe I have the skills to finish the job and fortunately I have a majority of the parts to do so so I am on my way.

With a new sense of focus I started wrenching on the '59 by removing the brake and clutch master cylinders. Both are rusted and seized which is disappointing as I understand they were rebuilt at one time but unfortunately time and the elements have taken their toll. I am presently soaking the plungers with penetrating oil so at least I can disassemble them to see the extent of the damage. Replacement master cylinders are reasonably priced. I am going to wait until I am ready for reassembling the brake system before I purchase them.

I spent about an hour "hand sanding" the dash area of the tub on the '59. The garage was warm, I had the radio playing and everything was right with the world as I removed the last remaining fragments of paint and smoothed out the areas that needed attention. Hopefully today I will finish up and apply a coat of primer. I will need to purchase some fine grit sandpaper and a dust mask today before I can proceed. Given the fine "fall" weather we are experiencing I am going to apply some skim coats of filler to the fenders and crowl areas today. I want to get this work done outside in the fresh air verses later on when I will be forced to do so inside the garage. Breathing the fumes in a confined space is not the best thing health wise.

Fenders and Such

Yesterday I spent a short period of time working on the 1957 (about 1-1/2 hours). I extracted the front fenders from my garden shed and lined them up for examination and evaluation. I think 2 of them should be sold and I am considering exactly how to do it...(Kijjiji perhaps). I also put the tub up on saw horses in the driveway and cleaned up the newly painted surfaces plus secured the car cover appropriately. I really need to focus on the '59 and get the work that needs to be done-done...hopefully today there will be not unexpected distractions...

Back to Garage/ '57 Tub Changes Location/Next Steps on the '59

Garage Clean Up: I spent about 5 hours on Thursday on further garage clean up. I actually moved the 1959 out of the garage so I would have more room to sort and clean up. It is starting to make sense to me around the importance of having "space" when undertaking a project of this nature. A single garage does not offer much of a contingency space wise. Clutter really impedes progress-no doubt about it. I figure I accomplished about 90% of what I wanted to do which is a really good start. Hopefully today I will get back out there and finish up. It certainly feels good to have things in their proper places and to get rid of some of the associated clutter that seems to accumulate in garages-especially mine.

Tub Move: I incorporated the assistance of my son and his friend Derek plus my daughter to move the '57 tub from the back driveway to the front driveway right outside the garage door. The four of us carried the tub for a hundred feet or so. I would not want to walk it around the block but the short distance was very manageable. I imagine it was a funny sight to behold. Today I am going to put the tub on sawhorses and start to assess my next steps. I also plan to match up which fenders I am going to use and then make a decision on the "sale" of surplus body panels. I need to generate some revenue to keep my projects going. I still have about $800 dollars in the TR fund thanks to my mother's generous gift a few months ago but I would like to top it up plus free up some room by getting rid of the parts.

Next steps on the '59: Hopefully today I am going to finish prepping the exposed panels and get some primer on the bare metal. This needs to be done asap as I started working on this back in August and I shouldn't wait any longer. I decided earlier in the week that I am going to finish up my identified bodywork ( I anticipate I have about 12 hours left) then make another attempt at getting the car started and letting it run for a while. A year ago when I attempted the last start up I didn't install the fuel pump fulcrum correctly so the fuel pump needs to be removed and refitted. Also I need to drain the oil and change out the filter prior to start up as the oil filter canister was leaking on the last start up. I have the adapter to change it out to a spin on filter which I believe will be an excellent enhancement. I also have decided to take the master brake and clutch cylinders off to determine if new rebuild kits will do the trick. They were rebuilt a few years back but are now seized due to non use. Knowledgeable Triumph folks are saying for reliability reasons I should go with new master cylinders but the cost is somewhat prohibitive. I will just have to see what comes up on the inspection. Once I finish these tasks I am going to move the car outside, cover it and start reassembling the powder coated frame.

Back to Creating Order in the Garage

Yesterday I came to the conclusion I can't continue to work on the TR's without spending some time in my garage creating some order( primarily so that I know where things are when I need them). I have a tendency to go "heads down" on tasks and end up with a pile of clutter to deal with that I subsequently ignore (rather than take time each day to address) until I become "boxed in" (physically and mentally) and unable to continue working. I have now reached that stage so it is time to regroup.

To start off I spent an hour or so going through my bodywork supplies trying to determine what is useful and what wasn't. My sandpaper tote (a recycled electric drill case) has broken clasps which make its' usefulness questionable. I contemplated throwing it out but quickly came to realization it was very fit for purpose size wise and that I could probably pick up some new clasps at Home Depot and fix it vrs throwing it into the landfill. So that is one of the tasks I am going to do today. I have also discarded some dated and defective spray paint cans. A trip to the dump will be in order as they will need to be disposed of as hazardous waste.

The other issue I am dealing with is "stuff" stored in the garage that is restricting my working space. I have ignored this intrusion over the summer months but now realize with the coming cold weather that I will need as much room as I can get to move around the garage with the door closed so the "useless" stored items will need to be addressed today.Bicycle storage is another issue as the bikes take up a fair amount of room hung from the ceiling. So I moved them out into my camper van for winter storage. Today I also need to install the casters I bought over a year ago to attach to my table saw so it is easy to move. The table saw also takes up a fair amount of room and can be moved to my storage shed until I need it again. Upon examination yesterday I realized about 25% of what is stored in my garage does not need to be there. Moving it out will free up a considerable amount of space.

Eastwood Chassis Black/Chassis Path Forward

Yesterday I restored the '57 tub back from lying on its' side (easy access for work) to upright sitting on blocks and generally cleaned up the back driveway from my rust removal and paint application antics. I also attended a local swap meet and bought a can of Eastwood's Chassis Black paint that I have heard good things about but have been reluctant to order in off the internet. I should have enough paint to coat the suspension parts when I reassemble the chassis. Yesterday I decided regardless of which body tub I use I should reassemble the powder coated chassis. It would be cleaner and more straight forward to upgrade generally. I also completed a mental check list of what parts I have already purchased for the job...so a good day generally with an incremental step being taken down the road to reassembly

More Rust Protection Completed on the '57

On Thursday I spent 5-1/2 hours doing prep work and painting the undercarriage of the '57 tub. I decided to use Rustoleum paint as the panels still had a majority of the original paint still intact with very little rust showing. I figured applying the Rustoleum would be more "fit for purpose" than going with POR-15.(which I would consider overkill)...the process took me longer than I originally anticipated due to the fact that there was a considerable of amount of prep work required to remove the dirt and oil that had accumulated.

By examining the floor boards I can make the assumption they have been replaced in the past 20 years or so?

I also found a very interesting website that shows a Mazda Miata conversion on a MGB. It gives me much of the background as to the mechanics of what is involved and I think, a good resource for information-the Internet is great for garnering information on almost any topic...

Today I am going to finish off the balance of the under car painting and make arrangements to move the tub closer to the garage door...

More Work on the 1957 TR3 Completed

Last Saturday I managed to get the engine bay POR-15 coated. The weather was very cooperative but unfortunately my personal schedule ( a dinner party for a good friend) impacted the "careful" application of the second coat at the "tacky" stage of set up on the initial coat. The second coat went on smoothly but there are a couple of blemishes that could have been avoided had I had more time. I had to remind myself it is an engine bay and most of the flaws will be covered or hidden anyway...

Today I tipped the body on its' side and cleaned off the dirt and built up oil and grease from the underside of the body. Using the garden hose, Scotch pads plus a environmentally appropriate degreaser the underside of the body looks pretty clean. Tomorrow I am going back with the rotary wire brush and some mineral spirits to take off the remaining scum. I hope to etch the surface with some fine grit sandpaper and coat it with a couple of coats of black enamel paint. The original paint is actually in pretty good shape which is encouraging to say the least (particularly given the age of the car-it looks like it was redone sometime along the way... I did not want to remove the existing finish and keeping in the spirit of a "rat rod" type vehicle build my approach should work out well...